The Power of Positive Doing

Bio

BJ Gallagher is an inspirational author and speaker. She writes business books that educate and empower, women’s books that enlighten and entertain, and gift books that inspire and inform. Whether her audience is corporate executives, working women, or a group of college student, her message is powerful, positive, as well as practical. She motivates and teaches with empathy, understanding, and more than a little humor.

BJ’s international best-seller, A Peacock in the Land of Penguins (Berrett-Koehler; third edition 2001), is now in 22 languages and has sold over 350,000 copies. Her recent books include: "Why Don’t I Do the Things I Know Are Good For Me?" (Berkley) and "If God Is Your Co-Pilot, Switch Seats" (Hampton Roads).

BJ and her books have been featured on CBS Evening News with Bob Schieffer, the Today show with Matt Lauer and David Gregory, Fox News, PBS, CNN, and other television and radio programs. She is quoted almost weekly in various newspapers, women’s magazines, and websites including O the Oprah magazine, Redbook, Woman’s World, Ladies Home Journal, First for Women, Time, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Hartford Courant, Denver Post, Los Angeles Times, Christian Science Monitor, Orlando Sentinel, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, and MSNBC.com, among others.

BJ is the former manager of training and development for the Los Angeles Times, where she was responsible for management development, sales training, customer service seminars, diversity training, specialized programs for women, and the development of high potential managers.

My heart sank when I heard Mitt Romney’s videotaped comments to a group of wealthy campaign donors. I so wanted to believe that he’s a good, kind, spiritual man – even though I disagree with his politics. I […]

On Viet Nam Moratorium Day in 1969, UCLA professor Warren H. Schmidt sat down to his morning writing. What flowed onto paper was a parable he titled “Is It Always Right to Be Right?” In it he examined the divisiveness […]

“If you ever publish with another house, you’ll be disappointed,” literary agent Julie Hill told me. “Berrett-Koehler has spoiled you.” We were both at a cocktail party in San Francisco, celebrating the fourth anniversary of Berret-Koehler, a small publisher with […]

A few months ago, I met a man named Kiley Jon Clark who teaches meditation to the homeless in San Antonio, Texas. My curiosity piqued, I asked him to tell me more about what he calls HMP Street Dharma (HMP […]

Stories. We all have them: “My father was a critical perfectionist and I was never good enough to please him.” “My mother was jealous and competed with me.” “My father is an alcoholic.” “My mother beat me.” “My children don’t […]

September 11 was supposed to be an auspicious day for Franz Metcalf and me: It was the day of our first author event for our new book, What Would Buddha Do at Work? The book had just been published and […]

I met Steve Jobs about 20 years ago when a Silicon Valley headhunter called me regarding a job opportunity at NeXT, the new computer company Jobs had founded after he left Apple in the ’80s. NeXT was growing and Jobs […]

“There’s no place on the map called ‘Safe,’” a wise therapist friend told me many years ago, and her words came back to me as I read Marie Lawson Fiala’s new book, Letters from a Distant Shore. Her story reminds […]

“The term ‘homosexual’ is really a misnomer when it comes to lesbians,” Kristin Katalin told me when we sat down to talk recently. “The more appropriate term would be ‘homoemotional.’ For most of us, it isn’t about sex so much […]

“Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be,” Abraham Lincoln once wrote. I’ve long thought so, too. Happiness seems to be a habit as much as anything – a habit of perception, a habit […]

I called my friend Sam Beasley to complain about the injustice: “I just got word that my friend Kathryn has been diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer. She’s only 68 years old. She’s been sober for 30 years; she hasn’t […]

This is a tale of two “Today” shows. Five years ago, a “Today” show producer called to invite me to come on the show for a segment about women breaking up with their girlfriends. I told almost no one I […]

I watched an episode of Cesar Milan’s “Dog Whisperer” TV show a few weeks ago and was fascinated by the dynamic between man and dog. It looked like Milan had taken on Mission Impossible with this particular mutt – a […]

My dad was an Air Force pilot. He taught me the difference between a pilot and a co-pilot. The pilot calls the shots; the co-pilot is the number two guy (or gal). The pilot is in charge; the co-pilot assists […]

What Would Jesus Say to Mitt Romney? My heart sank when I heard Mitt Romney's videotaped comments to a group of wealthy campaign donors. I so wanted to believe that he's a good, kind, spiritual man - even though I disagree with his politics. I think Jesus' heart must have sunk, too, to hear such cold, condemning words from the

This July 4th, We Need a "Declaration of Interdependence"On Viet Nam Moratorium Day in 1969, UCLA professor Warren H. Schmidt sat down to his morning writing. What flowed onto paper was a parable he titled "Is It Always Right to Be Right?" In it he examined the divisiveness that was tearing our country apart in the '60s: Counterculture versus Establishmen

Big Lessons from the Best Little Publishing House on the Planet"If you ever publish with another house, you'll be disappointed," literary agent Julie Hill told me. "Berrett-Koehler has spoiled you." We were both at a cocktail party in San Francisco, celebrating the fourth anniversary of Berret-Koehler, a small publisher with a big mission: "Creating a World tha

Byron Katie: "Who Would You Be Without Your Story?"Stories. We all have them: "My father was a critical perfectionist and I was never good enough to please him." "My mother was jealous and competed with me." "My father is an alcoholic." "My mother beat me." "My children don't respect me." "My ex is a jerk." "I'm too fat." "I was a bad mother." "I'm